Centre stage for Britain's Olympic winners

Last year, they were being cheered to the rafters by thousands of people at
the London Olympics. Today, Britain’s gold medallists once again took the
plaudits of the crowd, this time on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

Sir Chris Hoy in the royal boxPhoto: PA

By Patrick Sawer and Shewkhar Bhatia

9:59PM BST 29 Jun 2013

Led by Sir Chris Hoy, the most successful British Olympian of all time, they relived the memories of their achievements during last year’s spectacular summer.

As Sue Barker, the BBC television presenter and former French Open tennis winner, introduced each one to Centre Court, the heroes of London 2012 took their seats in the royal box to waves of applause.

Even Andy Murray returned to Centre Court, this time as a spectator after his third round victory on Friday evening.

(PA)

The British number one, who had spent the morning in a practice session before changing into a smart blue single-breasted blazer, was greeted with roars from the crowd.

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Despite the risk of distracting him from his preparations, the All England Club felt it had to invite the player ranked number two in the world to join the Olympic party because Centre Court was the scene of one of Britain’s greatest triumphs of last summer.

The 26-year-old, who won his gold medal there just weeks after losing out to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, was greeted with a handshake by Sir Chris, a fellow Scot. Murray later tweeted: “Nice day at Wimbledon with all the Olympians today. First time in the royal box for me.”

Helen Glover (Reuters)

Helen Glover, who won rowing gold, tweeted: “Amazing getting such a cool reception in royal box at centre court! What an atmosphere.”

Sir Chris’s wife, Sarra, had earlier Tweeted: “Off to Wimbledon today to try out a seat in the royal box. Can barely contain my excitement! I’m wearing green so will blend in.”

Victoria Pendleton, who won gold in the keirin cycling, was there with her fiancé, Scott Gardner, and fellow medal-winning cyclists including Laura Trott and Jason Kenny.

At the front Victoria Pendleton, left, and Danielle 'Dani' King; at the back Philip Hindes, left, and Jason Kenny (PA)

The rowers Katherine Grainger and Katherine Copeland were joined by equestrians Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester – whose birthday it was yesterday.

Hester said on Twitter: “Can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than being at Wimbledon! And I get to sit in royal box!”

Katherine Grainger (PA)

They were joined by Paralympians including the equestrian Deborah Criddle and swimmer Jonathan Fox, as well as the chief executive of the British Paralympic Association, Tim Hollingsworth.

A standing ovation was also given for members of the military services to mark Armed Forces Day. Meanwhile, on the grass, out on Number 2 Court, Laura Robson was staging a thrilling comeback to become the first British woman to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon in 15 years.

Robson looked as if she was heading home after being initially outclassed by Marina Erakovic, 25. At one point, the 19-year-old angrily threw her towel on to a chair in frustration at losing a point.

But after a storming comeback and some impressive returns of service, the former girl’s singles champion secured a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory in one hour and 55 minutes.

Robson said: “I was really struggling because she was playing so well.

“I just tried to stick with it until she got nervous and that is what happened.

“The crowd was amazing and I’m so happy to be through and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

The All England Club had been faced with a tricky dilemma over inviting Murray. It risked not only interfering with Murray’s preparations, but with that of his rivals including, Novak Djokovic, the top seed, if the Scot was watching from the royal box.

It was feared that if Murray had decided to occupy one of the 74 dark Lloyd Loom wicker chairs, his presence may have put off the men playing in front of him.

In the end, a compromise was reached. While Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, and the others remained in their seats for the day, Murray disappeared before the players walked on to court.

“He needed to get back to his support team and continue preparing for his game on Monday,” an All England Club official said.